 | Aladdin ; or, The Wonderful Lamp |  |
TO GOETHE.
Born in far northern clime,
Came to mine ears sweet tidings in my prime
From fairy land;
Where flowers eternal blow,
Where power and beauty go,
Knit in a magic band.
Came to mine ears sweet tidings in my prime
From fairy land;
Where flowers eternal blow,
Where power and beauty go,
Knit in a magic band.
Oft, when a child, I'd pore
In rapture on the ancient Saga lore;
When on the wold
The snow was falling white,
I, shuddering with delight,
Felt not the cold.
In rapture on the ancient Saga lore;
When on the wold
The snow was falling white,
I, shuddering with delight,
Felt not the cold.
When with his pinion chill
The winter smote the castle on the hill,
It fanned my hair;
I sat in my small room,
And through the lamp-lit gloom
Saw Spring smile fair.
The winter smote the castle on the hill,
It fanned my hair;
I sat in my small room,
And through the lamp-lit gloom
Saw Spring smile fair.
And though my love in youth
Was all for Northern energy and truth,
And Northern feats;
Yet for my fancy's feast
The flower-apparelled East
Unveiled its sweets.
Was all for Northern energy and truth,
And Northern feats;
Yet for my fancy's feast
The flower-apparelled East
Unveiled its sweets.
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To manhood as I grew,
From North to South, from South to North, I flew;
I was possessed
By yearnings to give voice in song
To all that had been struggling long
Within my breast.
From North to South, from South to North, I flew;
I was possessed
By yearnings to give voice in song
To all that had been struggling long
Within my breast.
I heard bards manifold,
But at their minstrelsy my heart grew cold;
Dim, colourless became,
My childhood's visions grand:
Their tameness only fanned
My wilder flame.
But at their minstrelsy my heart grew cold;
Dim, colourless became,
My childhood's visions grand:
Their tameness only fanned
My wilder flame.
Who did the young bard save?
Who to his eye a keener vision gave,
That he the child
Amor beheld, astride
The lion, far off ride,
Careering wild?
Who to his eye a keener vision gave,
That he the child
Amor beheld, astride
The lion, far off ride,
Careering wild?
Thou, great and good! Thy spell-like lays
Did the enchanted curtain raise
From fairy land,
Where flowers eternal blow,
Where power and beauty go,
Knit in a loving band.
Did the enchanted curtain raise
From fairy land,
Where flowers eternal blow,
Where power and beauty go,
Knit in a loving band.
Well pleased thou heardest long
Within thy halls the stranger minstrel's song;
Taught to aspire
By thee, my spirit leapt
To bolder heights, and swept
The German lyre.
Within thy halls the stranger minstrel's song;
Taught to aspire
By thee, my spirit leapt
To bolder heights, and swept
The German lyre.
Oft have I sung before,
And many a hero of our Northern shore,
With grave stern mien,
By sad Melpomene
Called from his grave, we see
Stalk o'er the scene.
And many a hero of our Northern shore,
With grave stern mien,
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Called from his grave, we see
Stalk o'er the scene.
And greeting they will send
To friend Aladdin cheerly as a friend:
The oak's thick gloom
Prevails not wholly, where
Warbles the nightingale, and fair
Flowers waft perfume.
To friend Aladdin cheerly as a friend:
The oak's thick gloom
Prevails not wholly, where
Warbles the nightingale, and fair
Flowers waft perfume.
On thee, to whom I owe
New life, what shall my gratitude bestow?
Nought has the bard
Save his own song! And this
Thou dost not, trivial as the tribute is,
With scorn regard.
New life, what shall my gratitude bestow?
Nought has the bard
Save his own song! And this
Thou dost not, trivial as the tribute is,
With scorn regard.
| Aladdin ; or, The Wonderful Lamp | |